The Armored Wolf

by D Wolfe

  Detective Anderson closed the file and set it on the table. “Thanks to some interesting new information that came in while you’ve been away, we now have reason to believe that Mrs. Summers simply ran away and that Mr. Summers is innocent of any crime that he committed.” He answered, shocking both Mrs. Wolfe and Ellie.

  Ellie felt her heart sank. How was that even possible? Of course Jared had killed her mother. He had told her himself and Darian had told Ellie while they had been running that Jared was being looked into by the police. “What about my mother’s body?” She asked the detective. There was no way that they could have missed it if they dug up the yard around Jared’s home. She simply refused to believe that the police didn’t find anything of value that could pin the murder on Jared.

  “There was no body.” Detective Anderson told Ellie. “After your father had to flee because of the accusations, we were able to dig all around your family’s house, there was no body. We searched the house for any hidden compartments big enough to hide a body. We even went to your family’s last house and searched there.”

  Ellie couldn’t believe it. There was no sign of her mother? How was that possible? If she was alive, which was impossible, why would she let everyone think she was dead? Why would Jared said he killed her if she was still alive? None of it made sense to her. She had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like what Detective Anderson was about to say next.

  “Because there is no crime, all Mr. Summers is guilty of is fleeing police custody and being on the run for being accused of a crime that he didn’t commit.” Detective Anderson continued. “So once we finally get a hold of Mr. Summers, we’ll tell him that we’re sorry for accusing him without actual evidence and that he can take you back home while we search for whatever it was that attacked your home.” He said, referring to whatever had made the large hole in the wall.

  Ellie’s heart sank. She realized that she couldn’t get Darian to help her with telling the detective what he saw without implying that he was the one who had made the hole in the wall. It would start to expose the secrets that the Wolfes wanted to keep from the rest of the world. She looked at Officer Wolfe. Surely Officer Wolfe would be able to help keep her away from Jared.

  Mrs. Wolfe looked at Ellie. With Ellie being an armored wolf now, it was important that they got her away from Jared. He would do who knows what to her if Ellie changed into an armored wolf in front of him. They couldn’t exactly carry out their original plan now. Mrs. Wolfe looked at Detective Anderson. Detective Anderson would do everything in his power to make sure that Jared and Ellie were reunited. Reuniting family with each other was what made him such a good cop. It’s also what made him dangerous with this situation. If Ellie tried to run away, without any proof that Jared did anything wrong, Detective Anderson would just write it Ellie off as a runaway and return her home. If the Wolfes disappeared at the same time as Ellie or even before Ellie disappeared, Detective Anderson would connect the two and the F.B.I. would be chasing them.

  “Is there any proof that Jared didn’t kill his wife?” Officer Wolfe asked the detective. “All because her body wasn’t found doesn’t mean that there would be blood traces left in the house.” Sure the forensic team would have found Ellie’s blood at least on the ground. It would have been impossible not to, given how badly Ellie looked when they had been at the medical center back at the camp. There was no way though that the forensic team could have missed finding Mrs. Summers’s blood.

  Before Detective Anderson could say anything, there was a knock at the door and it opened. They all turned to see who was there. To Ellie’s horror, it was Jared’s friends: Cliff and Johnson. She realized that Jared must have recruited the two of them to help him get his daughter back. They both smiled when they saw Ellie.

  “So the news was telling the truth.” Cliff said. “Ellie Summers is here at the police station.” He turned to Detective Anderson. “Her stepfather will be so relieved to find that out. He’s been worried sick about her ever since she went missing.”

  Officer Wolfe looked at Ellie. “Who are these two?” She asked Ellie, using mind speech. She didn’t want the three men to know what they were talking about.

  Ellie looked up at Officer Wolfe. “They’re Cliff and Johnson. They’re friends of Jared and just as ruthless as him. They would cover for him sometimes back home whenever something bad happened to me. If they’re here, it means that Jared knows I’m here as well but doesn’t want to risk getting arrested in case the officers and the Federal Agents thought he was guilty.” She answered. It didn’t matter now though. If Detective Anderson believed that Jared was innocent, Jared could easily show up there by the end of the day to come get her.

  Detective Anderson stood up and faced the two. “Who are you two?” He asked the men. Johnson smiled. “I’m Anthony Johnson. This is Cliff Bajc. We’re friends of Jared Summers.” He answered. He turned to Ellie. “Jared has sent us here to get you and to take you home where you’ll be safe.” He told Ellie.

  Ellie took a step back. She refused to believe that she would be safe or that Jared had been worried sick about her. “If Jared is so innocent, why isn’t he here to get me?” She asked. She had to know what lie Jared had for that.

  “Your stepfather has been looking for whoever it was that kidnapped you.” Cliff answered. “He also had been in hiding, which made it hard for him to look for your kidnapper, due to the stupidity of certain police officers reporting to the F.B.I. and her fellow police officers that your father was responsible for killing your mother, which was a lie, and for trying to kill you, which as we can all tell, is a lie as well.” He gestured to Ellie. “Not a bruise or broken bone.”

  Ellie realized that Jared would realize that and know that something was up. He had broken her bones and had nearly killed her. He would want to know why she was in such good shape. “Where is my mother?” She asked instead. “If she isn’t dead, why hasn’t she been looking for me?” This had to trap them. There was no way that they could prove that her mother was still alive.

  Johnson shook his head. “Your mother ran away shortly after you left for camp Ellie.” He told Ellie. “You would have known if you had bothered letting your father give you her letter.” At those words, Johnson took out an envelope and gave it to Ellie. Officer Wolfe took it and opened the envelope before taking the letter out. She read it.

  Ellie looked at Cliff and Johnson. The two of them had to be lying. There was no way that her mother would just runaway and leave her behind. Jared said that he had killed her mother. If that wasn’t true, why would Jared say that? None of this made sense.

  Detective Anderson cleared his throat. “Well Demeter?” He asked Officer Wolfe. “Are these two men telling the truth?”

  Officer Wolfe gave Detective Anderson the letter. “It’s hard to tell for sure since it was typed.” She answered. “Anyone could have typed it and claim it was from Ellie’s mother.” She looked at Cliff and Johnson. These two men could have easily typed the letter in an attempt to help Jared kidnap Ellie. “Once we get our report back from the forensic team concerning all of the blood found at the house, we’ll know for sure whose blood was there.” She told the two men. She went up to them. “And we’ll know if you’re lying or not. So are you sure you want to say that Ellie’s mom ran away because if we find her blood, we’ll know you’re lying.” She wanted the two men to know that they were skating on thin ice.

  “Demeter. Why would these men lie about something so serious?” Officer Anderson asked. “For all we know, Ellie’s mother did run away.”

  Officer Wolfe looked at the detective. Did he forget that guilty people usually had their friends try to cover for them so they could avoid prison time? “Give me one good reason why Ellie’s mother would run away right after moving here and leave her daughter behind to be raised by Jared?” She asked. She had to know what reasonable explanation Detective Anderson had for that.

  There were a few minutes of silence in the room. Ellie noticed that not eve
n Cliff or Johnson were able to come up with a reason. No doubt they weren’t expecting this much trouble with getting her. She was relieved that Officer Wolfe was there to help her out.

  Officer Wolfe smiled. She knew that she had all three men beaten. “Until we have proof that Mrs. Summers is still alive, I’m afraid I’m going to have to arrest the two of you with possible obstruction of justice.” She told Cliff and Johnson. “If Jared wants his daughter, he’ll have to bring me proof that Mrs. Summers is still alive.” She took out her handcuffs and looked at Detective Anderson. “Get Johnson.” She told him. “I’ll take care of Bajc.”

  Before the two of them could move to handcuff the two men, there was a loud gunshot from out in the police station. Cliff and Johnson took the moment and, before anyone knew what was going on, they had grabbed Ellie and were dragging her out through the back of the police station and outside.

  They took Ellie to their car and threw her in the trunk before getting in and speeding away. Johnson looked at Cliff. “Tell Jared we’re on our way with the brat.” He told Cliff.

  Cliff took his phone out. “What about Paul?” He asked, referring to their shooter. “I doubt that Jared will want loose ends.”

  Johnson smiled as a car pulled up behind them. “Paul isn’t a loose end.” He told Cliff. “Now call Jared and let him know we’ll be at the meeting place soon.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Darian struggled against his bonds. He had to break free and get to Ellie. There was no telling if Jared had gotten to her yet. Darian wasn’t sure how long he had been there but he knew that it had been a while. Darian heard noise on the other side of the door. He looked at the door. He wasn’t sure who it was but he wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

  That was when the door opened. “Darian!” To Darian’s surprise, it was Denthro and David. The two looked very worried. Darian sighed with relief as the two joined him. “Have you been here this whole time?” Denthro asked as the two untied Darian.

  Darian nodded and looked at David. “Where’s Ellie?” He asked. “Is she still at the police station?” He had a feeling that something bad had happened to Ellie. He turned to Denthro. “Tell me that Ellie is safe.” He said.

  David looked at Denthro. Denthro looked at David. “We need to tell Darian what happened.” Denthro told David.

  Darian looked at the two. “Tell me what?” He asked. He really hoped that Ellie was still alive. If Ellie wasn’t, nothing would stop Darian from going after Jared.

  “Ellie is still alive but…” Denthro didn’t finish his sentence. He wasn’t sure if Ellie was still alive or where she had been taken to. Demeter wasn’t sure where Jared’s friends had taken Ellie. The entire police force was looking all over the town for Ellie’s stepfather. The F.B.I. agents were looking for Ellie’s stepfather in their old hometown. Demeter was staying with the rest of their family.

  Darian stood up and looked at the two. “What happened to Ellie?” He demanded. He had to know what happened to her. “Where is she?”

  Ellie looked up. She was trapped in a cage that was way too small for her. Her back was against the top of the cage. She looked terrible and was in serious pain. When Jared’s friends had taken her to Johnson’s cabin out in the country side, Jared had taken the chance to hurt her. Now Ellie’s legs had been twisted and broken, She could barely see anymore. She could taste her blood but she wasn’t sure if it was blood from her broken nose or from her forehead. She couldn’t breathe easily without feeling pain in her broken ribs.

  Ellie knew that since she was an armored wolf, she should have been able to heal but for some reason, she wasn’t able to heal. She had a feeling that Jared knew about who she really was. It didn’t make sense though. He had freaked out when he had been at the armored wolf temple. How did he find out about the armored wolves and find a way to keep her from healing?

  Jared looked down at Ellie. “So you’re still alive.” Jared told Ellie. Ellie looked up at him. She could barely see him with how bad her sight was. “I guess it does take a lot more to kill armored wolves then I thought.” Jared continued as he knelt down in front of Ellie. “Not to worry though. Soon you will be dead.” He took out his knife and stabbed Ellie in the right shoulder. Ellie screamed in pain and lurched back, hitting her side against the cage.

  Jared laughed. “There’s no one here to save you, you little brat.” He told Ellie. “Thanks to a couple of friends of mine, I now know how to deal with armored wolves.” He looked at Ellie’s broken legs. “I’m not going to lie, I was surprised when I was told you were an armored wolf. I mean, look at you. You’re not tough or a fighter.” He reached through the cage bars and grabbed Ellie’s left broken leg and squeezed. “You’re a pathetic little weakling.”

  Jared pulled his hand out of the cage and glared at Ellie. “I don’t know if it was your mother or the man who abandoned you two who was the armored wolf but what I do know is this, you won’t ever find out either.” He stood up and looked down at Ellie. “Not after he gives the order for me to kill you.” With that, Jared walked away.

  Ellie looked down. She couldn’t believe that she was going to die. This wasn’t at all what she had imagined when she had been with Darian and his family eating supper who knows how long ago. She had thought that Darian and her would have a future together somewhere away from Dalton and far from anyone else who knew her. Now she would be killed by her stepfather once some guy, whoever he was, gave Jared the order.

  Ellie then realized that Jared had revealed a few things to her. That he had friends, maybe people back from the last town, who knew about armored wolves and that one of them knew that she had been armored wolf all along. Ellie had always thought that she had become one from the blood that Darian had donated to save her life but it sounded like Jared or whoever he was working with, had implied that Ellie had been an armored wolf long before that moment.

  Ellie wondered if her mother had known that she was an armored wolf or not. If her father had been one, it might explain why he had left shortly after Ellie had been born. Maybe one of Jared’s friends had arrived in town about the same time or had recognized her father to be an armored wolf. Ellie seriously doubted that her mother had been an armored wolf.

  Ellie thought about the three men she had seen with her father after she had been kidnapped from the police station. There was no way that Johnson knew about armored wolves or how to kill them. Sure he was a hunter but he had such terrible aim. It was why his trophy wall had so very few hangings on it even though there was a lot of space for more. Paul owned a gun but he never seemed like the violent type until that day. She did overhear Paul though say that he didn’t kill anyone, just injured a few police officers.

  That left Cliff. Ellie thought about the man. He did seem like the most violent one out of all three of her dad’s friends. Whenever he had come over and Ellie’s mother was gone, he and Jared would force her to be their slave and sometimes he would beat her up while Jared drank. If anyone would have known that she was an armored wolf all along, it would be Cliff. He had always been around for as long as Jared had been, even been Jared’s best man at the wedding.

  Ellie wasn’t sure though how Cliff would have known that she was an armored wolf. She had never changed into one until a day or so ago and she had never healed as fast as armored wolves were supposed to. Did Cliff know things that she didn’t know? She closed her eyes and focused on listening. She had to try to hear Jared and the others. Maybe if Cliff was with Jared, she might be able to overhear what Cliff knew about her.

  At the safe house in one of the back rooms, Darine and Derek were tending to Darian’s wounds. Darian was sitting on the bed, his shirt next to him. Darian felt like he was still in pain despite not being tortured for a while. He thought that his wounds be healed by now. The two were the best at medical care for the family. Darian noticed that there was something bothering Derek. Derek had a frown that wasn’t going away and it worried Darian. “What is it?” Darian asked. He had
to know.

  Derek looked at Darine. “Go join the others,” He told her. Darine looked at Darian and Derek before she left the room. Derek then sat down next to Darian. He sighed. He wasn’t sure how to best tell Darian what was troubling him. It was why he had told Darine to go out to join the others. He didn’t want her to hear what he was about to say.

  “What is it?” Darian asked a second time. “Derek, what’s wrong?” “I’m not sure what it is exactly but for some reason, your wounds are taking even longer than normal to heal.” Derek wasn’t sure what was causing it but he had a feeling that he knew why.

  Darian raised an eyebrow. “Why isn’t it healing as fast?” He asked. He knew that there was something that Derek wasn’t telling him. He was able to tell when people were lying to him and now was one of those moments.

  Before Derek could say anything though, Denthro came in. Derek went over to Denthro and whispered something in his ear. Denthro looked at Derek. “Go wait with the others for right now.” He told Derek. Denthro waited until Derek left the room before he went up to Darian. He looked closely at Darian’s wounds. Darian noticed that Denthro became worried as well.

  “Denthro, tell me what’s wrong.” Darian said. He had to know what was going on. “What didn’t Derek want to tell me?”

  Denthro cleared his throat. “Darian, remember the legend of the armored wolf about how we all had to go into hiding?” He asked Darian.

  Darian nodded. He knew that legend better than most. The part about the armored wolves having to go into hiding pained him the most. “What about the legend?” He asked.

  Denthro gestured to Darian’s wounds. “These wounds are similar to what the legend and descendants of the armored wolves who had to go into hiding spoke of.” He explained. He couldn’t believe that the weapons that had killed armored wolves all of those years before were still around. He thought that they would have been destroyed when the armored wolves had disappeared. It bothered him that Jared and his friends had weapons like that.